Everton are in desperate need of reinforcements at Goodison Park this month after falling into another relegation battle, and a reliable source has revealed an update on a potential transfer target that the club are pursuing this month.
What's the latest?
Fabrizio Romano has revealed that the Toffees are interested in a loan deal for Rennes winger Kamaldeeen Sulemana.
The Italian journalist tweeted:
"Excl: Kamaldeen Sulemana is open to leaving Rennes in January. Everton are exploring loan with buy clause deal.
"Augsburg and Bournemouth have also asked for Sulemana as he could leave due to lack of game time."
Imagine him & Calvert-Lewin
There is certainly a crisis developing at Goodison Park, with Everton in complete freefall having not recorded a single win since the last week of October, and Frank Lampard will certainly be feeling the pressure ahead of the second half of the season.
The Toffees are now 19th in the Premier League table, matching their relegation rivals in the bottom three on 15 points over their first 19 games; and after going out of both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, it is reported that Lampard's job could be on the line if things don't improve soon.
As a result, the former Chelsea boss will be hoping that he can add some new players to the squad over the remainder of the transfer window to improve their attacking threat and get Everton back on form to earn some crucial points in the coming weeks and months to secure survival in the top flight once again.
The prospective signing of Sulemana could be a great opportunity for the Toffees to add a player with the capabilities to improve their forward line whilst also keeping within their financial constraints by loaning the player from Rennes.
The 20-year-old Ghanaian winger - who was dubbed "incredible" by Erik ten Hag - ranks in the top 10% of his positional peers across the top five European leagues for assists, dribbles completed, tackles and interceptions, also ranking in the top 15% for aerial duels won. Those attributes could make him the perfect player to partner Dominic Calvert-Lewin in Everton's attack.
The service from out wide at Goodison Park has not been great at all, with Demarai Gray, Anthony Gordon and Dwight McNeil all failing to fill the void left by Richarlison when he moved to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer. None of that trio have scored more than three goals in the top flight this season.
In the 2022/23 Premier League, Everton have lost the majority of their aerial duels (55.7%) and scored just two goals from outside the penalty box, along with missing 1.1 big chances per game. Those returns must improve drastically if they are to give themselves a realistic chance of avoiding relegation.
Calvert-Lewin has been their most prolific striker in recent years, so finding him a partner to replace Richarlison who can win the ball in dangerous positions and provide big chances, whilst also able to cause chaos for defenders when travelling with the ball into the penalty box will be essential in improving Everton's goal threat.
As shown in his aforementioned statistics, Sulemana has proven capable of providing all of those attributes.
Therefore, if the powerbrokers at Goodison Park can secure a deal for him this month, it could be exactly what Everton need in order to get Calvert-Lewin back scoring, improve the team's attacking performances and ultimately climb out of the relegation scrap in which they have found themselves.